Dell; more competition from IBM!

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** Dell Reselling A 32-Way Unisys Server

After years of extolling the virtues of using numbers of small
servers to power big Web sites and data centers, Dell Computer has
acknowledged that not all of its customers are ready to buy into
such an architecture. So the build-to-order PC and server maker is
plunging into large-scale, symmetric-multiprocessor computing. It
plans early next year to resell a 32-processor Unisys server
designed for heavy-duty tasks such as database hosting and
transaction processing.

Each ES7000 server, rebranded as Dell's PowerEdge, will support up
to 96 PCI channels and run multiple operating systems. It will
also run Intel's forthcoming 64-bit Itanium processors in concert
with 32-bit Pentium III Xeon chips. Dell did not disclose pricing.

At a press conference in New York on Tuesday, Dell execs admitted
that the PowerEdge represents a failure to persuade some customers
that clusters of smaller four-way and eight-way servers, Dell's
bread and butter, are up to running big data-center apps. "It
often comes down to a religious war," said Dell senior VP Michael
Lambert. "Some of our best customers would rather scale inward, so
I'd rather offer them a 32-way system than lose them."

Observers say they believe the strategy is sound, but doubt the
new systems will have much impact on Dell's bottom line. Says
Forrester Research analyst Carl Howe, "They are not going to sell
thousands upon thousands of these, but it does fill an important
void for some customers."  - Paul McDougall
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